Adjustable strap

ABSTRACT

The interlocking adjustable strap provides for adjusting the length of a strap, such as those typically found on visors or sunshades. The adjustable strap includes first and second elongated strap members, each of the strap members having a free end and an opposing end forming a head that is wider than the body of the strap. One head has a single transverse slit formed therein and the other head has two parallel transverse slits formed therein, each of the slits being slightly wider than the body of the strap. In use, the free end of each strap member is drawn through the slit(s) in the head of the opposing strap member, and the free ends of the strap members are attached to the cap, visor, bag, or other article bearing the adjustable strap. The strap is preferably made from neoprene and encased in nylon fabric.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/272,181, filed Aug. 28, 2009.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to straps, and particularly to aninterlocking adjustable strap having an interlocking mechanism thatprovides for adjusting the length of the strap.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Visors, sunshades, hats and the like typically include an adjustablestrap for securing the visor, sunshade, or hat to the user's head. Thestrap will typically be a split strap having an adjustable fastener orfasteners, such as snap fasteners, buckles and hook and loop fasteners.Snap fasteners and buckles are typically formed from metal or hardplastic, and can cause injury to the user's head if the user receives ablow to the head over the fastener. Further, snaps, buckles, hoop andloop fasteners, and other similar, common fasteners can easily becometangled in the user's hair.

Straps are versatile, however, and may be used on many other devices fordifferent purposes. For example, many bags, purses, laptop computercarrying cases, and the like have a shoulder strap that includes twostrap ends adjustably joined by a fastener. Quite often the fastener isa metal buckle that may bite into the shoulder. Consequently, adjustablestraps have many uses, and there is a need for an alternative form offastener for adjustably joining the two ends of the strap. Thus, anadjustable strap solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The adjustable strap provides for adjusting the length of a strap, suchas those typically found on visors or sunshades. The adjustable strapincludes first and second elongated strap members, each of the strapmembers having a free end and an opposing end forming a head that iswider than the body of the strap. One head has a single transverse slitformed therein and the other head has two parallel transverse slitsformed therein, each of the slits being slightly wider than the body ofthe strap. In use, the free end of each strap member is drawn throughthe slit(s) in the head of the opposing strap member, and the free endsof the strap members are attached to the cap, visor, bag, or otherarticle bearing the adjustable strap. The strap members are drawntogether or pulled in opposite directions to adjust the strap to thedesired length, and lock together when tension is placed on the strap.The strap is preferably made from neoprene and encased in nylon fabric.

These and other features of the present invention will become readilyapparent upon further review of the following specification anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an environmental, perspective view of a visor having anadjustable strap according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded plan view of an adjustable strap according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an adjustable strap according to the presentinvention.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistentlythroughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the interlocking adjustable strap 10 providesfor adjusting the length of the strap, such as those typically found onvisors or sunshades. The visor V shown in FIG. 1 shows an exemplaryapplication of the adjustable strap 10. It should be understood that theadjustable strap 10 is not limited to headgear, and may be used forother applications where an adjustable strap is desirable, e.g.,adjustable shoulder straps for purses or bags, adjustable wrist straps,etc.

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the adjustable strap 10 includes a firststrap member 12 having an elongated body 26 and a first head 16 that iswider than the body 26. The head 16 has a single transverse slit 20formed therein. The adjustable strap 10 has a second strap member 14having an elongated body 28 and a second head 18 that is wider than thebody 28. The second head 18 has a pair of parallel transverse slits 22,24 formed therein. Preferably, the body 26, 28 of each strap member 12,14 has the same width, and each of the slits 20, 22, and 24 has a lengthslightly larger than the width of the strap bodies 26, 28 and a widthslightly larger than the thickness of each strap body 26, 28.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the strap 10 is assembled, the body 28 of thesecond strap member 14 is slidably inserted through the single slit 20in the head 16 of the first strap member 12, and the body 26 of thefirst strap member 12 is slidably inserted through the two parallelslits 22 and 24 in the head 18 of the second strap member. The free end30 of the first strap member 12 is then affixed to the article the strap10 is attached to, e.g., one end of the visor V of FIG. 1, and the freeend 32 of the second strap member 14 is affixed to the article the strap10 is attached to, e.g., the opposite end of the visor V.

In use, the two strap members 12 and 14 are drawn towards each other toshorten the strap 10 (thereby increasing the area of overlap of the twostrap members 12 and 14), or the two strap members 12 and 14 are pulledaway from each other to lengthen the strap 10 (thereby decreasing thearea of overlap of the two strap members 12 and 14). The length of thestrap 10 becomes fixed when tension is applied to the strap 10 byplacing the visor V on one's head, or placing the strap 10 over one'sshoulder when used as a shoulder strap, etc., due to friction betweenthe strap bodies 26, 28 and the heads 16, 18, the snug fit between thestrap bodies 26, 28 and the slits 20, 22, and 24, and friction betweenthe strap bodies 26, 28.

Preferably, the strap members 12 and 14 are made from neoprene, makingthe strap members 12, 14 resilient, and may be encased in nylon fabric,which tends to wick up and sweat from the forehead when used in visors,sunshades, hats, or the like.

The dimensions of the first and second strap members 12, 14 depend uponthe particular use. In the example of FIG. 1, the adjustable strap 10 isshown in use with a typical visor V. Such visors V often have brims Bhaving a lateral length of approximately eleven inches. For such anexemplary visor, each of first and second strap members 12, 14 may havean overall length of approximately six inches, and strap widths ofapproximately one-half of an inch. Each slit is also approximatelyone-half of an inch, and each slit may have a thickness of approximately0.114 inches. Each head width may be approximately 0.808 inches. Itshould be understood that these relative dimensions are given forexemplary purposes only.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to theembodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodimentswithin the scope of the following claims.

I claim:
 1. An interlocking adjustable strap, comprising: a firstelongated strap member having a body, a head, and a free end, the headhaving a single transverse slit formed therein; and a second strapmember having a body, a head, and a free end, the head having a pair ofparallel transverse slits formed therein, the body of the second strapmember slidably extending through the single slit defined in the head ofthe first strap member and the body of the first strap member slidablyextending through the parallel slits defined in the head of the secondstrap member, the free end of the first strap member and the free end ofthe second strap member each being adapted for attachment to an articleto bear the interlocking adjustable strap.
 2. The interlockingadjustable strap according to claim 1, wherein said first and secondstrap members are resilient.
 3. The interlocking adjustable strapaccording to claim 1, wherein each said first and second strap memberscomprises a resilient layer of material between layers of clothmaterial.
 4. The interlocking adjustable strap according to claim 3,wherein said resilient layer is made from neoprene.
 5. The interlockingadjustable strap according to claim 4, wherein said cloth material ismade from nylon to assist in wicking moisture.
 6. The interlockingadjustable strap according to claim 1, wherein each said first andsecond strap members comprises a resilient layer of material encased bya layer of cloth material.
 7. The interlocking adjustable strapaccording to claim 1, wherein said article is a visor.